Micromanaging: What It's Costing Your Company

If you want something done right, you should make sure everyone does it the way you do, right? It turns out those who micromanage are hurting themselves, their employees and their companies.

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Micromanagement is bad for everyone. Not only does it suck time away from the boss' schedule that could be better used doing something else, it also absorbs a lot of time from the employees. When employees must deal with an overbearing boss they tend to try to do things exactly how the boss wants them done. To achieve that accomplishment requires a lot of energy; this energy could have been better spent coming up with creative solutions to problems or increasing effeciency.

Everything Evolves in Business

Compliance would be great if business and business technology were static. The problem here is that both business and technology evolve quickly. A loss in productivity occurs when employees are no longer free to embrace the changes and integration that technology offers. This means that the company spends more money doing things the boss's way then it needs to in order to get the job done.

The Power of Creativity

Creativity is a powerful tool that is also lost when bosses are micromanaging employees every move. Not only is the company wasting money on manager salaries, they are preventing their greatest asset from becoming fully invested in the job responsibilities of each position. Managers would be better able to manage and develop projects, strategic plans, and help to support the upper level of the company if they were themselves free to be creative. Employees would also be free to develop tricks and tips that enabled the company to move forward faster if they were given the freedom to develop ideas that improved the process of job duties.

Go with Your Strengths

The bottom line is that the boss may not have the best method for performing a job. Managers who are open to change develop teams of employees who excel at what they do. When a team is involved and working cooperativelly, the ability of the team is elevated. Why does this work? It works because each member of the team serves as a check and balance for other members of the team. When this happens, the manager is freed from micromanaging the team and can focus on team building. Being able to place people in the right position is a powerful tool that improves the companies overall performance. When worker are given goals, and the freedom to develop tools to achieve those goals, the entire company benefits.

Studies that were conducted by the Harvard Business School have shown that allowing employees to have the freedom and respect to develop tools that help them perform can increase performance by up to 15% The human assets that make up a company are composed of individuals. Each person has their own style of learning and working. Empowering them to use both is a skill that managers can use to propagate bottom line performance.